Happenings In Harmony
by Inwe Palantir
Summary: What could happen to all of the characters on the show... Chapter 8 now up! Not going to spoil it by telling you which couples are in it! Please R&R!
1. Allister Crane

Just to let everyone know, this is my first fanfic, please be nice!! This story is NOT going to be in chronological order so just keep that in mind. Please review, and I don't own anything… blah blah blah.

Allister Crane

            He couldn't believe it. After years of trying to keep his daughter from Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, the two were finally together. There was nothing he could do now. Luis and Sheridan had succeeded in digging up Allister's secrets. Now the pair was to be married and there was nothing he could do, he did not have Pilar's life to bargain with this time. He couldn't believe it.

            Fortunately, he had found out about it before Luis exposed him. No one else was aware yet of all of his horrible deeds. But they would all soon know. He picked up the note from Luis and tore it up in frustration. It would not be long now before his secrets came out—ones that would change the lives of everyone in Harmony. But maybe he could run. He always had all of his fake passports, just in case such desperate measures were ever needed. He could leave Harmony, leave the United States, go somewhere far away, and never come back. But, no, after such horrible truths were revealed, his picture would be everywhere. He would be looked for everywhere. There was no escape this time, this time, Luis had won.

            He looked down at the papers on his desk. He quickly skimmed through them. Everything seemed in order; he had his lawyer's signatures as well as two witnesses. There was only one more person who had to sign. He quickly reread some of the main parts. He left a little bit to Julian, a little to Sheridan. Even though Sheridan was one of the people who would bring him down, he couldn't help but be a little impressed with her. Only a true Crane could destroy a family member so completely and maliciously. Not that she didn't have her reasons…

            He left a little more to fox, who seemed to him to be at least a good Crane businessman. However, the majority of his Crane fortune would be left to one person: his favorite grandchild. The one Crane who had the most innocence—this one person did not crave money or power. This was the one person who he would leave everything to. He shuffled to the last page and looked to the bottom. There was the last blank line. He signed his name and dated it: the last will and testament of Allister Crane.

            Allister put down his pen and reorganized the papers. He crossed to the middle of his office and stood on the chair that was set up there. He pulled the rope around his neck and tightened it. He checked to make sure it was secured to the ceiling. Then he kicked away the chair.


	2. Ivy Winthrop

Ivy Winthrop

            Ivy taped up her last box. She looked around at the empty garage apartment. It looked so small. Suddenly there was a knock at her door. She opened it to find Ethan on the other side.

            "The truck is here," he said.

            "Ok, all of the boxes are ready so just send them up," Ivy responded in a soft voice.

            Ethan left again to get the movers. Soon enough, everything was loaded in the truck. Ivy walked downstairs to take one final look at the Bennet house. She stood in the living room and looked around. Sam was not there, she knew he wouldn't be, he had nothing left to say to her. Still she did have a small hope that maybe he would come through the door just before she left. But she knew that could never happen. She would never see or hear from him again.

            She took a final walk around the living room looking at all of the pictures. Pictures from years ago, when the Bennets were a happy family. Well, all of that had changed. Ivy had seen to that. She stopped at one picture. It was taken shortly after Charity had arrived in Harmony. Sam and Grace were seated in the middle. Around them were Kay, Jessica, Charity, and Hank. Kay actually appeared happy around Charity and her mom. Jessica looked happy too. A tear came to Ivy's eye. A beautiful family, destroyed by her. And for what? She gained nothing from it really. A brief romance with Sam, but that did not last nearly as long as she had hoped. Instead for the rest of her life she would always be hated by the man she loved so dearly.

            "Are you ready, mom?" Ethan asked, interrupting her thoughts.

            Ivy quickly wiped away the tear. "Yes, Ethan, it is time to leave this place. There is nothing left here."

            "Don't worry, Baltimore will be a great place to start over."

            "Yes, I suppose. At least I still have you, the one person who can actually still stand to look at me." Ivy said smiling at her son.

            "Well, I am not proud of all of the things you have done, but no matter what, you will always be my mother, and I love you. But we need to get going, get ahead of the traffic."

            "I'm so glad you are coming with me."

            "Well, you're not the only one who has nothing left for them here. You are all that I have," Ethan responded, reflecting on some memory, long behind him now.

"We will both start fresh, and we'll never look back. Harmony is in the past, and I for one will be pleased if we never come back."

            Ethan and Ivy walked to the front door and without looking back got into their car and drove away. They drove all the way to Baltimore where they had bought a small house just outside the city. The two were never seen or heard from again by anyone in Harmony.


	3. Whitney Russell

GMUXMensoaps: Oh I know!! Jessica was such a bitch!!! And I love how she asks if Charity is moving in with Reese. It's like, too bad she hasn't had him over in like 2 months but whatever. And I hate how every time Jessica is on we have to sit through a 10 minute advertisement for Mark…ugh!!

Warning: Chapters will begin to get longer!!

Whitney Russell

Whitney opened her eyes to the best day of her life. She jumped out of bed and flicked on the lights to reveal her beautiful wedding dress. After months of planning, Whitney was finally going to marry the man of her dreams. She jumped in the shower and began to get ready for her big day.

            A few hours later, Whitney was completely ready. She got into the limo that her soon-to-be husband had waiting for her. "I have the perfect man," she said to herself softly noticing the limo. She climbed in and was on her way to the church.

            Once she arrived, she was shown to her private dressing room. Theresa, Simone, and Eve were already waiting for her. "Here's the bride!!" Theresa exclaimed grinning.

"Oh, come on, Whitney; let's get you ready for your big day!" Simone said.

Whitney double-checked her hair and make-up, and then slipped into her dress. "You look beautiful, honey," Eve said, tearing up at the sight of her daughter. She could not believe her little girl was getting married. "I just wish Grace could have been here," Eve said with a sad smile, thinking about how the celebration just wasn't complete without her best friend.

"It's ok, mom. I know you miss her. She wanted to be here," Whitney comforted her mom.

"Ok, I really hate to disturb this beautiful bonding moment, but, Whitney; you have to go get married!" Theresa said giddily.

"Oh my God, I'm getting married," Whitney said as though the fact had just hit her.

"And you're going to be great," Simone chimed in pushing Whitney towards the door.

"You're right," Whitney responded, "I'm marrying the greatest man in the world. I have no reason to worry."

Eve rushed in to take her seat and then the wedding began. Theresa came down the aisle first. Simone came next, the maid of honor. The congregation all stood and faced the back of the church where Whitney stepped forward. As she walked down the aisle she saw that everything was perfect – the beautiful flowers she had chosen, the dresses on Theresa and Simone, and her dress which had taken months to find. And there were so many people who had come to celebrate with her. There was Sam with his daughters Jessica and Kay and his brother Hank. In front of them were Miguel and Charity. Reese and John were there as well. Then there was Pilar and Paloma, who had come home not too long ago. Julian was there, as well as Gwen. Luis and Sheridan were there, looking happy and in love as usual.

And there he was – she wasn't far now – the man of her dreams: Fox.

She finally reached the end where Fox took her hands in his and gave her his adorable smile. "I love you," he mouthed to her. "I love you too," she mouthed back. The congregation took their seats again and Father Lonigan began the ceremony.

"Nicholas Foxworth Crane, do you take Whitney Russell to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," Fox answered grinning at his blush bride.

"Whitney Russell, do you take Nicholas Foxworth Crane to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"

"I do," Whitney exclaimed trying to hold back her tears of joy.

The two exchanged rings. "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Fox moved in towards Whitney, taking her up in his arms, and kissed his wife. As she pulled away, Whitney began to giggle in happiness and excitement. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I be the first to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Fox Crane." The two grabbed hands and walked back down the aisle. They went outside and got into the limo that would take them to their reception.

"Fox, I love you so much. Today is the happiest day of my life."

"I love you too Whitney, I always have."

"How did I get so lucky? Why do you love me?"

"Because when I met you, I came to life," Fox said leaning in for a kiss.

They arrived and got out of the limo. "Ready for this?" Fox asked.

"I guess…" Whitney laughed.

They walked inside where everyone was waiting for them. They started making their rounds to greet everyone and thank them for coming. Soon they all sat down for dinner. Simone got up to give her speech. "Well, what can I say? We have had our ups and downs Whitney but I'm so glad we have become close again. I must say you didn't take the easiest road to find love, but you've found it. I can see it between the two of you. Every time you are together, the love and chemistry between the two of you can just be felt by others around you. I've never seen you as happy as you are when you are with Fox. The two of you are meant for each other, and now you two can start your lives together, giving other couples something to always try to measure up to. To Fox and Whitney, have a happy and long life together, may it be blessed, and may other people find the same happiness you have."

Whitney, with tears in her eyes, jumped up to hug her sister. "That was beautiful," Whitney whispered to her, "thank you so much for everything you have done for me."

Music started to play. "Excuse me, Mrs. Crane," Fox said tapping Whitney on the shoulder, "but would you do me the honor of sharing this dance with me?"

"Of course," Whitney answered allowing Fox to lead her to the dance floor. He pulled her in tight as they danced alone, their first dance as husband and wife.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful_

_Stop me and steal my breath_

_Emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky_

_Never revealing their depth_

_Tell me that we belong together_

_Dress it up with the trappings of love_

_I'll be captivated_

_I'll hang from your lips_

_Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above_

"I love you Whitney, you've made me so happy. This could not have been a more perfect day"

"I know, it's perfect, and I love you too. Every girl dreams of this day when she's little, and this has been even better than I could have ever hoped for."

_I'll be your crying shoulder_

_I'll be love suicide_

_I'll be better when I'm older_

_I'll be the greatest fan of your life_

"There was time when I thought no man could ever love me again. I thought I was destined to be alone. I thought that I would never be wanted, that no one would ever be able to look at me again after what I did, after what happened."

"That could never happen. It wasn't your fault, you didn't know, and that could never stop me from loving you, Whitney."

_Rain falls angry on the tin roof_

_As we lie awake in my bed_

_You're my survival, you're my living proof_

_My love is alive not dead_

_Tell me that we belong together_

_Dress it up with the trappings of love_

_I'll be captivated_

_I'll hang from your lips_

_Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above_

"Thank you so much, Fox."

"For what?"

"For loving me, unconditionally. I know that it wasn't my fault, but I was still just felt so ashamed. You are the perfect man, I don't deserve you."

"But you've made my life worth living by loving me. Don't say that you don't deserve this. You deserve all the happiness in the world."

_I'll be your crying shoulder_

_I'll be love suicide_

_I'll be better when I'm older_

_I'll be the greatest fan of your life_

"You are everything to me, Fox. I don't know what I'd do without you. I can't wait to start our life together. I want to have children with you, and I want to grow old with you."

"You will, I'll see to that. We're going to be the happiest couple in Harmony, everyone will admire us and our love."__

_I've dropped out, I burned up, I fought my way back from the dead_

_Tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said_

"How did I get so lucky?"

"No, Whitney, I'm the lucky one. When I came to Harmony I was at a bad point in my life. I was out of money because I gambled it all away; everyone thought that I was just a typical Crane creep."

"You're not though, Fox. You've have proven that to everyone."

"I know, and that is thanks to you. I met you and I fell in love, for the first time in my life. You made me the better person. Don't you get it, Whitney? You saved me."

_I'll be your crying shoulder_

_I'll be love suicide_

_I'll be better when I'm older_

_I'll be the greatest fan of your life_

That night, Mr. and Mrs. Crane left to the Caribbean for their honeymoon. Throughout her life with Fox, Whitney would have many good days, including the births of their three children. However, this day, her wedding day, was the best day of her life.

The song I used is "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. GREAT song!!! Anyways, what did you think?? Please review and let me know. And just to let everyone know, ALL characters will make appearances in this story, so keep reading if you don't like any of the characters I've used yet!!


	4. Rebecca Hotchkiss

I want to thank everyone for the reviews; I'm glad people like it. Keep leaving them; they inspire me to keep going!!

Rebecca Hotchkiss

            Rebecca opened her eyes to a new day. She looked to her side and noticed that she was alone. Julian hadn't been sharing a bed with her for months now. She sighed at his absence. Sure, when she married him his money was always in the back of her mind, but she really did love him too. Rebecca, of course, could never be THAT shallow.

            Rebecca climbed out of bed to look for Julian. "Pookie," she called out through the halls to no response. As she walked towards the stairs, she passed the room that Gwen and Ethan used to share.

Flashback

            "Gwen, you have nothing to worry about. Ethan loves you, and soon the two of you will have your own child."

            "Yes, mom, but don't you remember who's carrying it? Our little friend, Theresa, who always seems to be involved in our lives," Gwen said.

            "True, but as soon as she delivers, she'll be gone. You get the baby, you'll have Little Ethan, and Tacosita will be left with nothing," Rebecca stated proudly.

            "It doesn't matter, mom. Even after the baby is born, Theresa will always be there, because Ethan just can't get her out of his head. Every time that something goes wrong in Theresa's life, he tries to help her. I don't know how much more of it I can take."

            "But remember, Gwen, he's married to you, and Ethan takes his wedding vows very seriously."

            "He married me because I was pregnant. I'm not stupid; I know that's why he's my husband now. And he didn't even last one year before being unfaithful to me. And because of that, I'm not pregnant anymore, and I don't have a baby from when I was pregnant. My little Sarah is dead because he just couldn't leave Theresa alone. And now I can never have another baby. And even if I could I'm not even sure anymore that I would want to have one with Ethan. Not after what he did to our first child. He killed her, mom. Theresa was more important to him then being there with me while I was going through a rough pregnancy with his daughter. So no, we will never be rid of Theresa."

End flashback

            Poor Gwen, Rebecca thought to herself. All she ever did was worry. But that was in the past. Theresa was out of her life now, and she was happy. Unfortunately, she no longer shared that happiness with her mother.

            Rebecca refocused on her own life: her marriage wasn't exactly something to brag about either. She continued downstairs and noticed a light on in Julian's office. She walked in to see Julian at his desk holding some papers.

            "There you are, Julian. I noticed that you didn't come to bed yet again last night," Rebecca greeted him.

            "And yet again, I wonder why you waste your time acting like you're surprised by it," Julian shot back.

            "Look, Julian, I know that you wish it were Eve instead of me in your bed, but please, you must remember, I am your wife, and she is only your whore…"

            "Shut up, Rebecca. Do not talk about her that way ever again. You're only jealous of her because you know you could never measure up to her, you couldn't measure up to most women for that matter."

            "What happened to us, Julian? You used to love me."

            "No, Rebecca, I never loved you. I was just at a miserable point in my life, and you were easy."

            "How dare you talk to me that way, at the risk of repeating myself, I am your wife."

            "Not for much longer," Julian mumbled softly.

            "What do you mean, Julian?" Rebecca asked, sounding almost worried. Julian handed her the papers he had been holding. Rebecca gave him a distrustful look than began to look them over. "Divorce papers?"

            "Yes. If you take the time to read them you'll see that you are actually making out quite well. I am willing to give up a lot of money to make you my ex-wife. It would be smart of you to sign."

            "Yes, Julian, I can read. The money, the cars, the beach house, the list goes on. But you forget one thing. If I signed, I would lose the title of Mrs. Julian Crane, and I don't think I'm prepared to do that. No, Julian, you married me, and now you're stuck with me. You think that I'm unhappy? That I want a divorce? I've been in a loveless marriage before; this is nothing new to me. I handled 20 years with that creep, surely I can do it again."

            "You enjoy being in a marriage where you aren't loved, where you are getting nothing in return?"

            "Don't get me wrong, Julian. Much to the disbelief of Harmony citizens, I do have a heart. I'm in a loveless marriage and I'm well aware of it. It is upsetting, but I always have the money as consolation. You might be thinking about another woman, but at least I have money and power to get me through those rough times."

            "And by signing these papers, you would still have money. I'm offering you so much. I strongly advise you to take my offer."

            "No, Julian, I don't think I will."

            "It's really in your best interest to sign them."

            "Why are you pushing this when you know you can't win with me? What happens if I don't sign them?"

            "You go to jail."

            "What?" Rebecca screamed. "Send me to jail, for what? What are you talking about?"

            "I know for a fact that you made that tape long ago, framing Ethan for the attempt made on my life. I know that you had the Lopez-Fitzgerald's fired from their jobs and evicted from their house. I know that you posed as Theresa and e-mailed the tabloids about Ethan's paternity. Also, it is no secret that you have, on more than one occasion, bribed a judge to in order to have cases decided in your favor. Now I know this may come as a shock to you, but those things are illegal."

            "You have no proof of any of those things," Rebecca argued.

            "I don't, but I do know a person who does have proof. And this person can and will testify against you, on all of those charges if I ask her to."

            "Who?" Rebecca asked.

            "Gwen."

            "Oh, Julian, you haven't thought this plan through very well, have you? Gwen is my daughter, she won't testify against me."

            "She has already promised me that she will. I asked her a few days ago. If you don't remember, you and Gwen aren't quite as close as you once were."

            "She wouldn't do it. She was involved in most of those crimes, she would be testifying against herself if she did. They would throw her in jail too."

            "Her testimony would clear of all charges. Plus, all of the crimes were your ideas and carried out for the most part by you."

            "How dare you bring her into this," Rebecca hollered, recognizing defeat. "You son-of-a-bitch, pitting my own daughter, my own flesh and blood against me!"

            "Please Rebecca, you brought this on yourself. Gwen has every right to be angry with you. She didn't even need convincing. She offered to testify. So, what is it going to be?"

            "I just have one question for you, Julian."

            "What might that be?"

            "Why have you offered me so much? Obviously, I will not choose to go to jail. You could have offered me much less money, and I still would have signed. Why are you giving me all of this?"

            "Because, Rebecca, I can't help but feel a little bad for you. You see, I too have a heart. I married you, and I didn't love you. And that was my mistake. This is my fault."

            "You know, I knew you didn't love me. But I didn't care. I guess that I just thought that we were so similar—that it would be enough, and that the money and the name would be enough. But I guess it wasn't"

            "We were similar, Rebecca. But I've changed. I am no longer an evil, cold, and corrupted man. I've grown a heart as well as a conscience. I looked back over my life, and you know what? I didn't like what I saw."

            "And now you're going to spend the rest of your life trying to right your wrongs?"

            "I know that for the most part it will be too little too late, but it's worth a try, isn't it?"

            "I guess it is, if that is what you really want to do. Give me the papers." Rebecca took them and flipped them to the last page. She signed on the blank line and handed them back to Julian.

            "Thank you, Rebecca."

            "Well you really gave me no choice did you?" she laughed. "It's been interesting, Julian."

            "It has been, perhaps my most intriguing marriage yet."

            "Well, I guess I will go start packing my things. Maybe I will go live at the beach house. It's nice there."

            "Take you're time, Rebecca, there is no rush."

            "Thank you, Julian," she said as she turned to go. "You know," she started, looking back for a moment, "you are a good person Julian. I don't think I'm even going to try to get revenge for this one. Eve would be lucky to have you." And with that, she left Julian's office.

            Rebecca went up to her room where she was going to start packing. Instead, she picked up the phone and dialed Gwen's number. "Hello," came Gwen's voice through the phone.

            "Gwen, hi, it's me, you're mother," Rebecca said hoping that Gwen wouldn't hang up on her.

            "No, that can't be right, I don't have a mother."

            "Gwen, please, just talk to me. I love you, and I want to be involved in your life."

            "Well it's not your choice to be involved or not, you lost your right to have that choice."

            "Gwen I'm your mother."

            "Funny, because you never really were a good one. Please don't call me again. My life has only gotten better since you haven't been it," Gwen said as she hung up the phone.

            "Damnit," Rebecca muttered to herself. She picked up the phone again and this time dialed a different number.

            "What do you want, Rebecca?" came Ivy's voice.

            "Don't sound so hostile, Ivy, I just want to talk to you."

            "About what?"

            "Well, like you, I am now an ex-Mrs. Julian Crane."

            "You divorced him? I'm impressed, I thought you'd never do it, give up the name, I'm shocked."

            "Well, it wasn't really my choice; he kind of forced me to."

            "I knew it couldn't have been your idea."

            "Look, Ivy. I've lost a lot of people in my life. And I just wanted to call you to say that I'm sorry for any bad blood there might be between us. I don't know what happened, we used to be friends."

            "Are you asking for me to be friends with you?" Ivy said starting to laugh, "Seriously Rebecca, you are so pathetic."

            "Please, Ivy, I just wanted to put our differences behind us and be friends again. I miss our friendship."

            "Well you sort of ruined that friendship when you supported Julian in kicking me out of the mansion. I had no money and no where to go."

            "Yes, but you ended up going to Sam's, so you see it all worked out for you. You got Sam."

            "Yeah, no thanks to you. You didn't help me to do it in any way. I can't even remember the last time I talked to you—and that's a good thing."

            "Ivy, when did you become so cruel?"

            "I'm only like this to you. Oh, Sam is home, I have to go. Love calls! Please, just leave me alone."

            "Yeah well don't get too comfortable with Sam. I know you played a major part in breaking him and Grace up. And trust me Ivy, the truth always finds its way out. So be prepared for the worst. I'm sure that this won't just end with you and Sam riding off into the sunset."

            "Oh, shut up, Rebecca. I have been very careful in hiding my secrets."

            "I'm just saying, I have a feeling that it will come back to bite you in the ass. So just be ready."

            "Go to hell. Don't call me again. Have a nice life." And with that, Ivy hung up the phone. Rebecca would never hear from Gwen again. Nor would she ever speak to Ivy again. But she did hear things about them. She found out about Gwen finally adopting. And she heard about Ivy's secrets coming out, and how she was forced to leave Harmony. She knew Ivy wouldn't get away with what she had done.

            Within a week, Rebecca was moving herself into the beach house miles away from Harmony.  It was ironic she thought. She had had so much money and power. She had used it to hurt her enemies and to help those she loved. And at the time she thought she was helping them, and that they loved her even more for it. Yet, somehow she still ended up alone.


	5. Luis LopezFitzgerald

Just to let everyone know, I started this story before Charity left Harmony (which I cried about while watching!! Haha!!), before Eve's past came out, before Luis and Sheridan went to Mexico, and before Whitney found out that Fox was in love with her…se just disregard all of that!! Please review!!

Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald

            "Come in Luis, it's open," Sheridan called out in response to the knocking on the door of her office. Luis let himself in and crossed over to Sheridan. "We're alone. My father has already left for the night and the only people still here are janitors," Sheridan whispered.

            "Did you get the key?" Luis asked.

            "Yes I slipped it from the desk of one of his assistants. We have total access to his office," Sheridan answered.

            "Perfect…let's get started," Luis said. The pair left Sheridan's office and walked down the hall towards Allister's office. Sheridan glanced in all directions, and then unlocked the door. Luis looked in first, making sure it was empty. He motioned for Sheridan to follow, then made his way in. They turned on their flashlights, making it appear to still be dark through the windows and under the door.

            Luis remembered being here before. He had gotten the C.D.-ROMs easily enough then, but after that the security was probably increased. He walked over to the sculpture on the desk and turned it the way he had before. Again, it revealed a safe. However it was a new safe. It was a much newer one, not one that Luis could easily break into.

            "Well," Sheridan broke the silence, "now what?"

            "Now, we crack the code. Let's start at the beginning. 0-0-0," Luis began there and worked through the numbers in order; 0-0-1, 0-0-2, 0-0-3, etc. Slowly Luis worked through the numbers while Sheridan kept watch.

            "Luis, what if there is something else in there? What if this is just a decoy safe or something, and the C.D.-ROMs are really somewhere else?"

            "Well, we just have to hope that there is something in here that is incriminating towards Allister. We only need proof of one thing, one horrible crime he has committed. Then when he is behind bars we can find the rest. And at that point we won't have to wait for cover of darkness. We won't have to hide what we're doing. And if there is nothing in here, then we'll look somewhere else. Sheridan, I won't rest until we've brought him down. I won't let him hurt you or anyone else."

            Sheridan sighed at his answer but continued to keep a look out. She worried that they might never find anything, or worse, Allister would find them. Couldn't they get in trouble for breaking into his office and stealing? She could only hope that the crime would be overlooked when Allister's secrets came out. But if he discovered them? If Allister caught them, he would kill them for sure. He could only fail in his attempts so many times. Soon, he was going to actually kill her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a noise outside the door. She looked over to Luis who was staring intently at the door. He put a finger up to his lips and silently crossed over towards the door. He watched for any sign of movement through the crack under the door. He heard someone walking far away. "I think it was just a janitor or something passing by," he whispered to Sheridan. They waited for a few more minutes, and after hearing nothing more, went back to their work.

            Hours slowly crawled by as Sheridan tried her hardest not to drift into a sleep. The last thing Luis would need was for her to fall asleep then have a horrible nightmare and wake up screaming, bringing everyone in the building to the office. She couldn't do that. Poor Luis, all he ever wanted to do was save her from her father. He loved her so much and she couldn't help but think that all she did was cause him pain. It would just be typical for her to get them caught. For her to make his life just a little bit more difficult. She felt sleep coming on but jerked up from the seat she was in a crossed to the other side of the room. The movement woke her body up; she continued to walk around the room…anything to keep her awake. Luis noticed Sheridan's pacing and took a short break from the safe. "Sheridan what's wrong?" Luis asked with a look of concern.

            "Nothing Luis, I'm just trying to keep myself from falling asleep," she answered. She looked at the time. It was 5:00. "Please, go back to the safe, I'm fine."

            Luis went back to his work. He wouldn't give up. He knew that if he didn't put Allister behind bars, Allister would kill Sheridan. He had to push on. Sleep wasn't an option. Even if he wanted to drift off, how could he? Sleep hadn't come to him ever since Antonio's death. He couldn't close his eyes for fear that Allister should hurt another person he loved while he slept. The idea that he couldn't help Anotnio, that Antonio had died while Luis stood in the control tower and watched. Antonio had been so close to him then, yet so far away. He did nothing but watch his brother perish. Revenge was the only thing that could ever bring him sleep now.

            "Luis, the sun is starting to come up," Sheridan said standing by the window, "we will have to stop here and come back again tonight."

            "Ok," Luis agreed, "but I promise you Sheridan, we will figure the code out. We will do this every night until we find something. Allister's secrets will be exposed. I won't let him hurt you anymore."

            "I love you," Sheridan said cracking a smile.

            "Not as much as I love you," he said taking her up in his arms. They put everything back in its place and slipped out of the office. They left the building and drove to Sheridan's cottage where Sheridan quickly fell asleep.  Luis, however, just watched her. He didn't even try to lie down, he knew sleep was impossible. "Sleep well, Sheridan. No nightmares now. You must rest so that we can get back to work tonight," he whispered to her sleeping body.

            But they didn't go back to Allister's office that night. A couple of hours before they were going to leave, Luis' cell phone rang. "Hello," Luis answered."

            "Luis, it's Miguel," came the voice from the other end.

            "Miguel? What's going on? Why are you talking so fast?"

            "I'm at the hospital Luis. You need to come down here…"

            "What happened? Is everything ok?" Luis yelled cutting off Miguel. All of a sudden a panic coming to him, imagining which of his family members was in critical condition now because of Allister.

            "Luis, it's ok. Stop interrupting. Theresa's in labor. Everyone is fine though. But Theresa's going to be having the baby soon. You need to come down here. And bring Sheridan, Gwen wants her best friend here with her."

            "Oh, thank God," Luis breathed a sigh of relief, "we'll be there soon." Luis hung up the phone and ran to Sheridan who was in the kitchen. "Theresa's in labor, we have to go to the hospital."

            "Oh my God," Sheridan exclaimed, her eyes widening.

            They made their way to the hospital and rushed inside to find Miguel with Charity. Sitting down near them was Whitney, Chad, and Fox. "What's happening?" Luis asked rushing to Miguel.

            "Right now, we're just waiting. Everything is fine though, Luis. Why do you look so worried?" Miguel asked.

            "I just don't know what I would do if something else went wrong in our family. I don't know. I guess I really need to calm down. I've been a nervous wreck lately."

            "Well, relax. Theresa and the baby are both doing great," Charity said putting her hand on Luis' shoulder in reassurance.

            "Where's Gwen?" Sheridan asked looking around, "I want to see her."

            "She and Ethan are in with Theresa right now. As is Mama," Miguel answered.

            "Hey guys," Whitney joined in giving Luis and Sheridan a hug.

            "Sheridan!" Gwen suddenly called, walking from Theresa's room. "I thought I heard your voice." Gwen and Sheridan embraced. "Can you believe it? I'm finally going to be a mother. I was starting to think this might never happen," Gwen said, her eyes filling with tears.

            Rebecca arrived next, followed shortly by Ivy and Sam.

            Hours passed, everyone sat in the waiting room growing more and more impatient. "When are we going to have one?" Miguel asked looking deep into Charity's eyes.

            Charity let out a small laugh as her face lit up in a smile. "All in good time," she answered arching her eyebrows. She leaned over and kissed Miguel, imagining how wonderful it would be when they did get married and have children. She couldn't wait.

            Whitney also couldn't wait to start a family with the man that she loved. She looked over at Chad and knew he was thinking the same thing. "Someday it will be you and me in that room," Chad said holding Whitney in his arms. Fox watched the happy couple. _No Chad_, he thought to himself, _it will be me and Whitney_.

            Eventually, Ethan came running out with the good news that Theresa was starting to push. He ran back into the room as everyone stood close to the door waiting in excitement. After some time had passed Ethan came out again, a huge smile across his face and a twinkle in his eye. "It's a girl," he said to everyone. They all surrounded Ethan, hugging him and congratulating him.

            He went back into Theresa's room to hold his daughter. Everyone waited around for a while. They all got to meet the little girl who was then taken to the nursery. They all sat out in the waiting room talking about how wonderful it was. Theresa, Pilar, Eve, Ethan, and Gwen were still in Theresa's room talking. All of a sudden a scream came from the room. It was Gwen, and she was just screaming the word no over and over again. Eve came out of the room. "What's wrong Eve? What's wrong?" Sheridan yelled as Eve was bombarded with questions.

            "You all need to leave," Eve said, shock in her eyes. "Visiting hours are over, and you all need to leave."

            "I need to see my best friend," Sheridan shouted trying to get through to the door.

            "Sheridan," Eve commanded her; "Gwen has requested that no one be in to see her. You all need to leave. I can give no further information." Eve called hospital security to escort everyone out of the hospital.

            "What could be happening?" Sheridan asked Luis once they were in his car, on their way home.

            "I don't know," Luis said, "but it didn't sound good."

            Gwen refused to see or talk to anyone the rest of the week. Reluctantly, Sheridan agreed to Luis' idea of going back to Allister's office. They continued their work, Sheridan not quite as there as she had been the first night. She worried about her best friend, what could have happened? She wouldn't even see her best friend. Something must have gone horribly wrong. Was something wrong with the baby?

            Her thoughts were interrupted by a door swinging open. She turned to see Luis staring into the wide-open safe. "I got it Sheridan, it's open."

            Sheridan forgot about Gwen and walked over to the safe. Her eyes widened at the sight of a stack of C.D.-ROMs. Luis took them out of the safe and out them on the desk. He turned on Allister's computer, wanting to waste no time in decoding them. "I'm almost afraid to look at these," Sheridan said, "some of the things he has done are just too horrible."

            "I know, but we have to, Sheridan. That way he can pay for all of those things. You will finally feel safe. We still have a few hours before the sun comes up, let's decode them. Maybe if we do it on a Crane computer it will go faster. They aren't all here," Luis said looking through the stack. "Allister probably hid some of the other ones in other places," Luis began looking around the office for other hiding places.

            "Luis, remember what you said, we can look for other ones later, after my father is in jail. For now, we have enough to send him to prison, if not to the chair."

            "You're right," Luis said returning to the computer. He looked over the seven discs that were there. They were labeled Sheridan, Antonio, Dr. Ackland, Eve, Julian's Bastard, T.C's Accident, and Liz. They first decoded the one labeled Sheridan. It didn't take long and soon they were watching in horror at all of Allister's attempts to murder his own daughter. Next they decoded the one labeled Eve.

            "Oh my God," Sheridan said in disbelief, reading about the sordid past of Harmony's upstanding doctor. "I can't believe this, Eve is such a wonderful person, how could this be true?"

            "I don't know Sheridan," Luis responded, "but it is. This is information that could destroy Eve's family. We can't let this fall into the wrong hands. We will tell her about this disc before anyone sees it, we will warn her about what is on it and let her decide what she wants done with it."

            After reading the last word on the disc, Luis took it out and began to open the one labeled Antonio. "Luis, I can't sit through any more of this. We know we have enough. Let's just get out of here before we're caught. We'll look through it later, in safer place."

            "Alright," Luis said, "you're right; we don't need to look through all of it now. It's a lot to take in." He put everything back the way they had found it, except for the discs; he put them in a bag that he had brought with him. Just as they were about to leave, Luis turned back. "Give me just a second," he called to Sheridan. He walked back to the desk and found a pen and paper.

            _So here we are again, Allister. Once again, I have managed to find your C.D.-ROMs. However, unlike you, I am not a bastard. I have decided to give you fair warning. Do what you will with the information. But whatever you do, wherever you go, don't bother warning Julian that he should come with you. He has already promised to testify against you, and in return he will go unpunished for his crimes. You are completely alone in this. Now I will finally have my revenge. You murdered my brother, you had something to do with my father's disappearance, you tried to keep me and Sheridan apart more than once, and you will pay. You do not have my mother's life to bargain with this time. There is nothing you can do- your time is up. I'll see you in Hell._


	6. Liz Sanbourne

Hey, I just wanted to thank those of you that left the great reviews…keep leaving them!! I wasn't really sure what Liz's last name was, but this is what they had on , so I guess it's right!! Glad people are liking it, don't forget to review!!

Liz Sanbourne

            Liz walked into the Harmony Police Department and made her way to the front desk. "I'm here to see T.C. Russell," she said to the officer there.

            "Is he expecting you?" the man asked.

            "Well, no, but I really do need to speak with him, I was hoping you might not mind, please officer," Liz said putting on her sweetest smile.

            The policeman paused for a moment. "I can give you ten minutes with him, but that's all I can do, and you should be thankful for getting that."

            "Oh, I am, officer, thank you very much." He led Liz down some hallways and eventually they reached T.C.'s cell.

            "Mr. Russell, you have a visitor," the officer said.

            T.C. was sitting on the cot inside his cell staring into space. At the sound of their officer's voice, T.C. did nothing. He remained silent, back to his guest, not moving in anyway.

            "Well, good luck with him. I'll be back in ten minutes," the officer said to Liz, letting her enter the cell."

            "Thank you, again." Liz watched as the officer retraced his steps to the front desk. She turned her eyes to T.C. "Hello, T.C." There was no response. "T.C., please, don't ignore me. I've come to see you."

            "Why are you here, Liz? What do you want?" T.C. asked turning towards her. His eyes were so cold and hollow, no emotion in them, staring right at Liz. She felt like he was looking into her, deep into her soul, seeing her for what she really was. She looked away, breaking their eye contact. She couldn't bear that feeling, of him gazing into her deepest thoughts and feelings.

            "I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am, for everything that has happened. Finding out about Eve, I know it wasn't easy for. You didn't deserve any of this," Liz started looking down at his feet and slowly working her way back up to his face.

            "Oh please, Liz," T.C. responded blinking and interrupting his cold glare. "Don't pretend like you actually care. You don't have a heart; you proved that when I realized that you were plotting against Eve."

            "T.C., don't say that. Yes, I wanted revenge on my sister, and yes, I wanted to see her suffer, but I did care about you, I still do, and I always will."

            "How can you say you cared about me? You destroyed my family."

            "You deserved to know the truth about your wife. She didn't deserve to be happy. But you do, T.C. And you can be happy, with me."

            T.C. looked at her in shock. "You mean you want to be with me?"

            "Yes, T.C., I love you. In a few short months you will be out of here. Then you and I can start fresh. We could leave Harmony. We could go to St. Lisa's, you would love it there."

            "And you think," T.C. interrupted, "that I actually want to be with you?"

            "What?" Liz asked, taken aback.

            "Don't you get it, Liz? I want nothing to do with you. You destroyed my life, my family. And the whole time I let you into my house and treated you like family. Then I find out that all you ever wanted was to destroy my wife."

            "I wasn't without my reasons. Have you forgotten all of the horrible things my sister did to me? I needed to get revenge. She was a whore and a drug addict, Julian's whore to be exact. She was living a lie. The only way for me to heal from what she did to me was to destroy her."

            "I know all of that, Liz. And I know that the truth coming out was a good thing. It made me open my eyes about Eve. And I want nothing to do with that slut. Oh, you've gotten your revenge, isn't that enough? You destroyed Eve, and perhaps she even deserved it, but do you realize how many innocent people were hurt by all of it."

            "But that's not my fault, T.C. I wasn't the one who let the cat out of the bag. I could've told you for over a year, and I didn't. I wanted to protect you."

            "Protect me? Look around you. Look at where you are. You're in a jail cell, my jail cell. I'm in prison. Yeah, you did a really good job protecting me."

            Liz looked down at his sarcastic tone. She couldn't look at him. He hated her, and all she wanted was to end up with him. "Ok," Liz tried a different approach," but I wasn't there when the truth came out. So I couldn't help you to calm down. But I'm here now. I want you to know I'm here for you."

            "Well that means nothing to me. I've lost everything, and you can't make up for that."

            "But you could start a new life with me. A life based on truth. You know everything about me right from the start, no surprises."

            "Don't flatter yourself, Liz, thinking you're some damn consolation prize. I want nothing to do with Eve because she's Julian's whore. But you are no better. You are a heartless bitch. You care more about revenge than anything else. I could never love you, you make me sick."

            "But T.C., I love you. All I wanted was to do to my sister what she did to me. But it's over now, I'm done. I can finally love again, and allow myself to be loved. I finally have closure."

            "Well you won't be loved by me."

            "Please, T.C.  You're just upset right now, I know we could work."

            "No we couldn't. I wouldn't even want to try it. So you know what? Go back to St. Lisa's Go back to wherever the hell you came from and stay there. You are evil and conniving. I never want to see you again."

            "T.C. you don't mean that," Liz said, tears coming to her eyes.

            "But I do mean it, Liz. I hate you. I hate Eve. I hate Julian. I don't want anything to do with any of you. As soon as I get out of this place, I'm leaving Harmony. I can't stay here any longer."

            "Please reconsider. We could be so happy."

            "I would be miserable. I will never love you," T.C. said staring into Liz's eyes. They said it all, cold and emotionless, he meant what he said. His face was expressionless. He had been hardened into a man who no longer had a heart. He would never love again.

            "Ten minutes are up," the officer interrupted, opening the door to the cell. Liz looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes. She hadn't even heard him returning. "Miss, I'm sorry, but it's time to go."

            "Yes," Liz managed to get out, "I'll leave now." As she walked out of the cell she turned back to take one last look at T.C. His back was toward her as it was when she first arrived. He was looking out the barred window. He had shut her out completely. She already felt like he was a million miles away. "Goodbye, T.C.," she whispered to no one.

            She couldn't believe how things were ending between her and T.C. She lost everyone she loved. It seemed a pattern in her life, always losing people, they always left her, abandoned her, or told her to go away. It was so unfair. Why couldn't she ever find happiness? Why was she destined to be alone? All she wanted was a loving husband, and children who loved her. All she wanted was a family, something she had never had before. But obviously, T.C. was not going to be a part of it. She didn't know what else to say to him to try to convince him. There was nothing left to say. He made his feelings quite clear, Liz would leave him alone now. She had finally got her revenge, yet she still had so much pain in her life. _Maybe revenge was not the answer_ she thought to herself. _The truth needed to come out, but maybe I should not have had the idea of destroying her life. I should have forgiven her, and tried to help her through this. _But it was too late now. Even if she could forgive Eve, which she couldn't despite it being the right thing to do, Eve would never accept her apology. Why should she? Liz put her hand to her head; her thoughts were racing so fast.

            "Are you alright, miss?" the officer brought her back to reality.

            "Yes," Liz said breaking her thoughts. "Thank you again for letting me visit."

            With that Liz left the station. She began to walk down the street not knowing where to go. A little bit further down she saw Whitney walking hand in hand with her new boyfriend, Fox. She watched as Whitney took one look at her, then crossed the street and ducked into a shop in order to avoid her. She really was alone. She had always thought that out of Eve's destruction she would gain a family. T.C. would be hers, and Whitney and Simone would be like daughters to her. But things don't always work out as planned…

            Liz continued to walk, not knowing where to turn. She came to the Book Café and went inside. She saw Simone sitting at a table with Miguel and Charity in the corner. Her heart felt so heavy, watching Simone. She looked…happy. She was smiling, something that didn't happen very often anymore. Liz crossed over to a table and sat down. Simone noticed her and suddenly her smile disappeared. She apologized to Miguel and Charity for having to leave them so abruptly and quickly left the Café walking as far away from Liz's table as was possible. Those were her last meetings with T.C., Whitney, and Simone.

            She continued to sit there and watch Miguel and Charity. They were so happy together. That could have been her and T.C. They could have been just like that. The couple stood up, leaving some money on the table. Charity whispered something to Miguel, and he wrapped his arms around her. They walked out of the café, saying goodbye to Beth on the way out. It was then, after seeing the happiest couple in Harmony, when she realized that there was only one thing she could do. She had to return to St. Lisa's. There she had plenty of people who loved her, who would know nothing of what she had done in Harmony.

            A few days later, Liz was sitting on a plan, waiting to take off for the island. When the plane took off she had one final view of Harmony. A single tear rolled down her cheek. She thought about the time she had spent there, the people whose lives she had turned upside-down there. Sure, she had come, saw and conquered; but ironically she seemed to leave a more broken person than she had come. For the rest of her life, Liz lived on St. Lisa's. A few years after getting back from Harmony, she met and married a man. The marriage was not a happy one. He was an alcoholic, and he abused her. In turn, Liz soon turned to alcohol to escape from the beatings. She landed herself in rehab and after getting out, she divorced him. She moved away from St. Lisa's, everyone there was disgusted with her. She remarried a wonderful man, a new priest in the local church. He had never had a sip of alcohol, nor would he ever hurt a fly. He knew nothing about her childhood, about how her father raped her. He also didn't know about the lives she had set out to and achieved in destroying in Harmony. He also didn't know about her first marriage, or her time spent in rehab. She lived out her life with this man, and he never discovered the truth about her past. It was funny how she felt no shame in building a relationship on lies. Perhaps it was just lucky for her that Eve, who had learned of Liz's doings since leaving Harmony, didn't care enough to destroy Liz's life like her life had been destroyed.


	7. Martin LopezFitzgerald

Be proud, this is such a fast update!! Please review!!

Martin Lopez-Fitzgerald

Martin woke up to the sun hitting his face from the window. He rolled over to face the love of his life, Katherine. He kissed her cheek softly and lied there next to her, watching her sleep. He could hear her soft breathing and smiled thinking how lucky he was to have her. She stirred a little and slowly her eyes opened. Her eyes met his and she smiled back at him. They had been through so much but at least they were together. "Good morning," he whispered to her.

"Good morning," she said back kissing him softly. She began to get up out of bed and made her way to the bathroom.

Martin rolled back over and lied there for while thinking about their life together. He heard the shower start and began to get up himself. He left their bedroom and made his way downstairs. On the couch he saw Paloma sleeping in front of the television. He turned off the TV. and kissed Paloma on the forehead. If only she knew how close the two of them really were. He longed to tell her, but knew he couldn't. He continued outside where he picked up the paper. He took it inside with him and went to the kitchen. He made himself some coffee and sat down at the table, unfolding the newspaper. On the front page the name Crane caught his eye. Even though the Crane lived in a different country they were still so rich and powerful that a big enough story about them could make the front page of a newspaper in Mexico. _Something really big must have happened_, Martin thought to himself. He read over the article in shock. Allister Crane was found dead in his office. He had hung himself. Martin read the article three times making sure he hadn't missed something.

Katherine came downstairs and saw Martin sitting at the table, his hand over his mouth, a look of surprise on his face. "What is it?" she asked quietly so as not to wake Paloma. "What's wrong?"

"Katherine," he said looking up at her, "it's Allister, he committed suicide."

"What?" Katherine asked putting her hand to her stomach.

"It's in the paper. He hung himself in his office a couple of nights ago."

"Oh my God. What happened, what could have made him do that?"

"Apparently our children, Luis and Sheridan found some evidence of some of his wrong-doings. They threatened to expose him and send him to the chair, but he killed himself before any of it came out."

"Luis and Sheridan? They…they…destroyed him."

"Yes. I just can't believe it. I just…it's so weird to think that he's…gone."

"Martin, the man who forced us to leave, the reason we ran, he's dead."

"I know. It's horrible to say, but him being dead, it's almost a good thing. Do you know what this means Katherine?"

"What Martin?"

"He's the reason we left, he's why we are here in hiding. And now he's dead. Katherine, what's keeping us here now? Why can't we just go back?"

"Martin! We could go home, we could…" she suddenly stopped, her smile disappearing. "No, Martin, our families, they could never forgive us. They would hate us for what we've done. We ran from Allister, but now we're hiding from so many other people."

"It will come as a shock to them, yes. But when we explain everything to them, they'll understand. They will have to."

"I fear they won't. Martin, they might not want anything to do with us."

"But isn't it worth a try, Katherine? You know that we'll regret it if we don't try. They may never want to see us again, but maybe they'll forgive us. Can you really sit here in Mexico for the rest of your life and see their picture in the paper every now and again, but never actually see them. It kills me every time I see a news article about something in Harmony, or see a picture of a member of my family, and to know that I may never see any of them again."

"Of course I understand that. I feel the same way; don't pretend that you have it worse than me. At least you've had one of your children here with you the whole time. You have been able to watch Paloma grow up. Consider yourself lucky. And of course I want to see them again, of course it's worth a try, but I just don't know if I would be able to cope should they tell us that they could never forgive us."

"I know, I know," Martin hugged her; "I don't want to fight with you. I have been lucky, I have had Paloma, but I just want to see the rest of them so desperately. And I know that you want to see your children as well. And it's safe now. Allister is gone, there is no more danger for us in Harmony. There maybe rejection and pain for us there, but the threat of physical danger is gone. This is our chance, it's what we've been waiting for for years. We can go back, we can see everyone that we left, and we can hope, hope for the best and just see how it all plays out. They may hate us, but I'd risk that in hope that maybe, just maybe they will forgive us."

"Oh, Martin, I'm so scared. But if we don't go back, you're right, I will regret it. As scared as I am, I know what I have to do. We must go back. No matter what might happen, we have to go back. For their sakes, your family deserves to know what happened to you, they've wondered all these years. And Sheridan and Julian deserve to know the truth about their mother. I do want to see them. We do have to go back."

"Of course we do. And we will. We'll get on the first plane to Harmony. We can start packing now," he said excited at the thought of seeing his family. He began up the stairs stopping for a moment and looking back down at Katherine. "This is the right decision, we have to do this. It won't be long now before we see them. We can take Paloma with us. I have hope."

"Take me where?" Paloma sat up on the couch. She looked back and forth between the couple, wiping the tiredness out of her eyes. "Well is one of you going to tell me? Where are you going to take me? What are the two of you talking about?"

Martin looked at Katherine thinking about what to tell Paloma. He decided that the only thing he could tell her was the truth. "We want to take you back to Harmony."

"What?" Paloma asked, anger coming to her voice. "You know my feelings on that idea. I will never go back to the people who abandoned me. They didn't want me, and I don't need them."

Martin couldn't take it any more. He was tired of listening to Paloma go on about how horrible her entire family was when there was only one person to blame. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself, but he couldn't help it. The words just started pouring out of his mouth. He loved Paloma, but finally he was going to put her in her place…make her understand. "They didn't abandon you, Paloma. They love you, they all love you…"

"No…" Paloma began to interrupt, but was cut off my Martin.

"Don't interrupt me Paloma," his voice roared above hers. She stopped talking in shock and listened for once. "They love you, that is why they sent you here. You have had such a wonderful life here, a life you never could have had there. You spend so much time blaming your mother and you siblings, when there is only one person that you have any right to blame. And that is your father. He left and then there wasn't enough money to take care of all of the children. You were the only child who hadn't started school yet. That is why you were the one sent over your other siblings. Antonio was almost to high school, Luis was about to go into middle school. Theresa and Miguel were both in elementary school. They had already established themselves there. Theresa already had a best friend in Whitney; your mother didn't want to tear them apart. Miguel had found a best friend in Kay; your mother couldn't tear them apart either. You were the only one who hadn't started school yet, you also weren't old enough to have any real ties to Harmony yet. You were the best choice. You could come here and start school, and your life would be here. You would make your first friendships here. You were too young to really even remember Harmony. They loved you though; it was the hardest choice your mother ever had to make. She didn't want to do it, but she had to. Stop blaming them. I know you resent what happened, but you must believe that they didn't want to do it, they loved you, they still do. Your mother hated herself for what she did, but she had no other choice."

"How do you know all of this?" Paloma asked softly, tears forming in her eyes.

Martin took a deep breath and began talking in a much calmer voice. "A lot of it I found out from Maria. She told me about why Pilar chose to send you away."

"But you know all of their names, you talk about them as if you knew them. You know the names of Theresa and Miguel's best friends. You know who Whitney and Kay are. How do you know that?"

"Because Paloma, it's me. I'm the only person you have a right to blame. I'm your father."

"What?" Paloma asked looking at him in disbelief, "no you're not, you can't be."

"It is me. I've had plastic surgeries to make my appearance different, but I am. I can tell you Luis' best friend is Hank. I remember them trying to do this one project for school together when they had to collect bugs and bring them into class. They had so much fun with that, they would scare your mother and Theresa with them. I know Miguel has a scar on his knee from when he slid into home plate during a baseball game, and I remember him being safe, he was so happy. I remember Theresa always trying to dress you up and do your hair when you were really little. You were like her own personal doll or something. I remember when I got a call from the principle of the school, saying that Antonio had gotten into a fight with a kid who had been bullying Theresa. I remember all of that. And I've tried to keep up with them. Sometimes they are in the paper, of I find out things about them. I heard about Theresa and Luis' double wedding, as well as how it was ruined. I heard about Miguel finding the love of his life, a girl named Charity. I would love to meet her, she sounds like such a wonderful girl. I heard about Luis and Antonio falling in love with the same woman. And about how Theresa is a mother now. And most recently I heard about Antonio…" here Martin hesitated for a second, not able to say the word, "…dying," he finally finished. "I know about all of it, because I am Martin Lopez-Fitzgerald, it's me Paloma."

Paloma was silent for a few seconds letting all of it sink in. She looked at the man before her, the man she thought she knew. Her emotions were running so fast. It was her father. After years of uncertainty, here he was in front of her, he wasn't dead, he was alive and well. But he had left them, he had left his family, why had he done that? And here he was, with another woman, who wasn't her mother, who wasn't his wife. He had been unfaithful to the one woman who loved him more than life itself. All of these thoughts raced through her mind and at the end of them all she was only left with questions…and anger.

"I know it's a shock, I know it's a lot to take in, I've wanted to tell you all of this for so long, I'm so sorry," Martin's voice cut through the silence.

She didn't want to hear his apologies. The sound of his voice made her sick to her stomach. "So I was sent here, I was sent away from my family, because you ran off with another woman?" Paloma screamed at him.

"Paloma, please don't jump to conclusions, I can explain everything, you have to listen, you don't understand. I didn't leave your mother for another woman, there were reasons, but that is not one of them."

"Don't lie to me. You've done enough of that," she said bitterly. Her words made Martin's heart sink to the floor. "You left her, she loved you so much, and you ran off with some whore."

Katherine winced at this remark, but continued her silence. It was not her place to try to explain anything to Paloma. This was Martin's daughter and the two of them needed to talk.

"Don't call her that Paloma, she is not a whore," Martin answered.

"Oh, don't defend her. You two, for years, acted like an aunt and an uncle to me, you lied to me all these years."

"Please listen to me, I didn't run off with another woman. She is from Harmony as well. This is Katherine Crane."

Theses words stopped Paloma for a moment as she remembered the name. "Allister's wife?"

"Yes," Martin answered hoping that Paloma would listen now. "The two of us had to leave Harmony, Allister was trying to kill us. He used to abuse Katherine, and he would try to rape her. I worked at the Crane mansion; I saved her from Allister's wrath on many occasions. He hated me for doing this, and he threatened the two of us. We had to leave or he would have killed us. When we did leave he made up a story that Katherine had died, and said that I ran after being caught stealing. He made those things up to protect his pride, and in the meantime he searched everywhere for us. We changed our appearances, our names, we fled the country."

"But you two are together, did you cheat on Mama?"

"No, Paloma, I loved your mother, and all of my children. And leaving all of you was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was after we had left, the two of us were just always together, and feelings began to grow. And we did fall in love, and we are together now. But that doesn't mean that I don't love Pilar. She is the mother of my children, and I could never forget about her. It's just that romantically, I've moved on. But I was never unfaithful to her."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"We couldn't risk it. We couldn't tell anyone because then it could get back to Allister. When we first came to this hotel we only planned on staying for a few nights. But then I saw you, I recognized you in a second, and I discovered that you were here permanently, and so our short visit turned into a much longer one. I wanted to tell you so badly, but if I did, I would have had to run from here, I would have had to leave. I couldn't leave you twice, I just couldn't."

"Papa," Paloma whispered. She ran across the room to him and embraced him. "I can't believe it's you. But wait…" she began as a thought came to her. "You couldn't tell be for risk that you might be discovered by the wrong person. So why now, why did you tell me now. Oh no, oh no, you're going to leave me aren't you. You finally tell me, I finally know the truth and now you're going to leave," she choked out tears flowing down her cheeks.

"No, Paloma, I am not going to leave you. I will never leave you again. Just this morning I found out that Allister Crane is dead. There is no more threat for Katherine and me in Harmony now. It's over. We can stop running. We are going to go back. And we want to take you with us."

Paloma smiled at this. Her family was to be reunited, she was happy at this. She forgot for the moment that she had to grow up apart from her family. She was still hurt by that but she had her father back, that was all she could think about now. He was back, and now she would go back to the rest of family, the family who didn't abandon her, and who loved her, and who hated themselves for having to send her away. "Papa, I am not happy that you left our family, but for now I'm glad to know the truth, and to have you back. And of course I will go to Harmony with you. I can't wait to see everyone. Finally they will know the truth too. I think I'm going to start packing now," Paloma said rushing upstairs to her bedroom.

Katherine crossed over to Martin. He looked at her and for the first time in a long time could not read the expression on her face. "What is going on in that head of yours?" he asked.

"Oh, Martin, I'm just nervous about going back."

"Well, look at Paloma, she was shocked at first, but once I explained everything to her, she was fine."

"Martin, I'm so sorry, but I don't think Paloma is fine. At the moment I think she is blinded by having you back and by knowing the truth and by the idea that her family didn't abandon her. She's just so overjoyed by those things that she has temporarily forgotten about how you left her, and that you're the reason she grew up without a family. And I mean temporarily. Soon the joy will pass and she'll remember the resentment that lies deep within her heart, something that can't be erased even by knowing the truth or forgiving the rest of her family. She'll hate you for it. I fear that the rest of our families won't be forgiving even for a little while, but will feel only anger towards us. I know you said to have hope, Martin, but honestly, I don't see how this can go well."

Martin sighed realizing that what Katherine was right. There was only a very slight chance that his family would forgive him. But he had already told Paloma so he couldn't change his mind. He had to go through with it.

Martin had bought plane tickets for a couple of days after the day he had told Paloma the truth. They passed quickly. They hadn't called anyone in Harmony, no one knew of their plans. The three of them packed and tried to prepare themselves for what they were about to do. Soon they were at the airport. Paloma was excited; she couldn't wait to see her family after all of these years. She knew they would be so glad to see her, and to catch up with her. Martin was so happy at the idea of seeing the rest of his family. Paloma was still caught up in her "temporary" glee, and the two of them had had a lot of father-daughter bonding time over the last couple of days. Katherine, however, could not help but have a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that their families would not be quick to forgive. They would probably never forgive them. She felt so alone, she was the only one of the three facing reality. Martin still had hope because of how close he and Paloma had become so quickly. She saw everything for how it really was, and she was terrified for how Martin would react when he finally faced the truth as well. But for now, there was nothing she could do. She knew they couldn't go back. From the second that Paloma asked where they wanted to take her she knew they could never go back. She had seen it in his eyes. She knew, maybe before Martin himself even knew that he was going to tell Paloma everything. And once that happened, there was no way of stopping the following events. It was all just the inevitable now. They would arrive in Harmony, and they would soon be forced to leave again when there families cast them aside, despising them for what they had done. She feared all of it, but there was nothing she could do. Time just kept speeding up taking them faster and faster to their doom. The plane landed in Harmony. It was such a bittersweet feeling, coming home; if she even had a right to call this place home anymore. They got a cab and began their ride to Pilar's house. They would start there. There was a good chance that Sheridan might even be there, so that was the first place they'd go. They arrived in what seemed like seconds. They got out of the car and saw all of the cars in the driveway. Everyone must have been home. In a matter of seconds they would see Pilar, Luis, Theresa, Miguel, and maybe even Sheridan and Charity. They walked up to the door. The feeling Katherine had grew stronger, she began to even feel physical pain at what she knew was about to happen. Martin took one more look at Katherine, their eyes meeting. This was what they had thought about doing for years, and now that they were here it was just so hard to do. Martin rang the door bell. And they waited. All of a sudden that time that had been flying so fast began to crawl by so slowly. Katherine could hear movement inside, someone was coming to answer the door, but it felt like she was standing there for an hour in wait. Finally the door opened and standing on the other side was Pilar. Paloma was behind Martin, so Pilar could not see her. Katherine suddenly found it hard to breath.

"Pilar, it's me, it's Martin."


	8. David Hastings

Hey!! Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, I was on vacation. But I'm back now…enjoy and PLEASE review!!

David Hastings

David paced back and forth. He was in the hallway outside of the room where Sam and Grace were. He hadn't slept in hours but he continued to push on. He didn't know what he was still doing there. He knew what Sam and Grace were talking about. He didn't need to be there, it might be hours before the door opened. But something was keeping him there. He decided to take a short leave of his post at the door and get some coffee. The caffeine was the only thing keeping him awake. As he walked towards the coffee machine he ran into his son, John, "Hey, dad."

"Hey! How are you doing, John?"

"I'm alright. Tired, but I'm going to stay awake. Have you seen Sam or mom yet?"

"No," David winced at the word mom. If only John knew the truth. Grace wasn't his mother; she was in no way related to him. Would John hate him forever if he knew the truth? Was it worth the risk? His thoughts were flying, he had so many questions. They made his head hurt as tiredness crept through his body. He took another sip of his coffee demanding his body to keep going…just a few more hours at least. He sat in silence with his son for a while. His eyes started to droop and he nodded off into a half-sleep. Soon David began to slip into a dream.

He saw himself in a Sam's living room. John was there. It was just the two of them. John was talking about his wonderful parents, as usual. David sat there and listened and all of a sudden he just couldn't take it anymore. He had to tell John the truth, the lies were killing him. He spilled everything, not even hesitating to let John make a comment. He watched as John's smile faded, his life crashing down around him. Everything he believed was gone in a matter of seconds, his perfect life taken away by his own father. When David finally finished, leaving nothing out, he met John's eyes. He saw right through to his heart, his broken, bleeding heart. John stared back into his father's eyes, not blinking, an expression of hate on his face. His breathing was all that he could hear. Grace wasn't his mother? David pretended she was all along? And just so that he could help Ivy to destroy Grace's marriage?

"This can't be true," John finally broke the silence, "Dad, tell me it's not true."

"I'm sorry, John, but it is. I just couldn't take lying to you anymore. That was the hardest part, I hated it."

"So after a couple of years of lying to me it got hard to do? If you were a real father it would have been impossible from the start. If you really loved me you would never have told one lie. But look at all of the ones you have told me. I hate you…I hate you…"

David jumped awake from his nightmare. He looked over and saw John eyeing him.

"Are you alright, Dad?"

"Yeah, just a bad dream is all," he replied.

"About what?"

"I don't want to talk about it, please, John. I don't want to remember it. Actually, I think I might go back to Sam and Grace. I'll see you around, ok?"

"Alright Dad. Tell mom I love her."

"Right," David said looking down to the floor. He looked back up at John and smiled at him. How could he keep doing this?

David started back to the door where he would continue to keep his guard. He was about halfway there when he heard someone from behind him. He knew the voice and wanted to keep going but it wouldn't stop calling him.

"David…David, stop walking, I'm trying to talk to you."

"What do you want Ivy?" he asked turning toward her.

"I want an update. What is going on with Sam and Grace? What are they talking about?"

"You know what they're talking about. You know exactly what's going on. And I have no update to give, I don't know anymore than you do."

"You mean you haven't talked to them. You haven't been in there with them, with your wife? It's your rightful place as Grace's husband."

"God, Ivy, shut up. No, I haven't been in there with them, and I refuse to go in, because it's not my rightful place and you know it. I can't stand what I'm doing to these innocent people. And I'm not just talking about Sam and Grace. John, Kay, Jessica, and Charity are all involved."

"They are not being affected in a bad way. You've given John a mother. Something he's always wanted but never had. He's probably never been so happy. And yes, it was rough for the three girls at first, but at least now they've wised up about Grace. And besides, they have all learned very quickly that they can turn to me for anything they need. They still have a mother figure in their lives; it doesn't have to be Grace."

"John, maybe is happy, but the three girls aren't. Sure they still have a woman to go to for advice but they all stood by and watched as their family fell apart. They are not happy. And don't even get me started on how miserable Sam and Grace are…"

"Do not, for a second put Sam under the negatively affected category. He is happier than ever. He has me, and he knows I would never leave him for another man…"

"No you already did that, didn't you."

Before either one knew what was happening, Ivy reached out and slapped David across the face. She pulled her hand back and looked down at her feet. "I admit, I did make that mistake, but only because of my father. I would never leave him again, ever."

"No, Ivy, it looks like he will be the one leaving this time."

"What do you mean? Do you know something I don't? What's going on?"

"What I mean, Ivy, is that I won't allow this to go on any longer. I'm going to end this here and now. I won't lie for you or hurt them anymore."

"You do, and I will ruin your life," Ivy snapped back.

"You already have. My mind is made up; I'm telling them the truth."

"No, David, please," Ivy begged, "you can't, look at how far we've come. I have Sam and you have Grace. Please don't please. I can't lose him again, David. I just can't. I'll die if I do. Don't do this to me."

"If you honestly think that I'm about to have any sympathy for you, than you are an even bigger idiot than I first made you out to be."

"David," Ivy pleaded grabbing his hands, "don't do this. Think about it. John will hate you, Grace will hate you, everyone that you love will hate you."

"Yes, that's true. But you know what, Ivy, I deserve it. I deserve their entire wrath, as do you. And trust me, Ivy, you'll get it."

"David…"

"Stop it," he yelled pulling his hands from hers. "I'm going to tell them, there's nothing you can say. They deserve to know the truth. I am going to find John, Kay, Jessica, and Charity. You can choose whether or not you want to be there. But as soon as I find them, and it won't take me long, I am going in there and I am ending this." He turned around and walked away from Ivy, his last meeting with her. He walked back to where he had left John and found him still there. Jessica and Charity had also joined him.

"Does anyone know where Kay is?" he asked.

"She went to get some coffee," Charity answered, "she's coming right back."

"Ok, well when she gets back, I need all of you to come with me."

They looked at him wondering what he was talking about but their thoughts were interrupted by Kay's appearance.

"Ok, you're all here now. I need you to all come with me."

"What for?" asked Jessica in a snobby tone. She still hated David for coming between her parents.

"Jessica, put your personal feelings about me aside for just two minutes, and please come with me."

They all exchanged glances wondering what was going on. John was first one to get up, and they soon all followed, too curious to be left behind. David led them right to the room where Sam and Grace were. He knocked on the door. It took a little while, but the door soon opened and Sam was on the other side. He took one look at David and began to close the door again, but David was too quick and held the door open.

"Look, I know you hate me, and I know you don't want to see me right now, or ever for that matter, but please, just give me five minutes, there is something I need to talk about with you and Grace."

Sam almost began to shut the door again but this time he noticed his daughters and niece behind David, and decided to let them in. "So what is it you needed to talk to us about, David? Make it quick," Sam said wanting David to leave.

"Alright, I'll just come out with it. I must tell you the truth. I have been deceiving you all for quite sometime now, and for that I am sorry. Grace, I'm not your husband. I never was. The first time I saw you was when I came to Harmony a couple of years ago. You aren't John's mother; Sam is your legal husband, and your husband in the eyes of the church."

"What?" Sam yelled lunging at David, but John intercepted him.

"Wait, Sam, hold on," John said barely able to hold Sam back. Sam backed away and allowed John to talk, although never taking his eyes off of David. "Dad, that's not true. I know it can't be true. I know what you're trying to do, and you're so kind for it. But don't do this for mom's sake. Don't lie just to try to give her some peace of mind. I know you feel bad for everything that has happened, but don't put all of the blame on yourself. I know it's not true."

"It is true," David replied looking into his son's eyes.

"Why?" Grace's voice spoke up. David looked over to her for the first time since he had entered the room. She noticed that her cheeks were stained from tears, and new ones were forming in her eyes.

"I did it because I was blackmailed into doing it. I'm so, so sorry."

"Who blackmailed you?" Sam asked, wanting to find out who was to blame for coming between him and Grace.

"It was Ivy. Ivy knows things about me, I don't even know how. Things that could ruin my career, my life, my son even. Those things aren't important now. That is something that I will have to deal with later. What matters now is that all of you know the truth. Grace, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. As I got to know you, I really did come to care about you. That is why I had to do this. I'm sorry to all of you. I can't ask for forgiveness, I don't deserve it. I just wanted to finally do the right thing, what I should have done from the beginning."

"Ivy…" Grace whispered. "That bitch! I always knew she was after you, Sam," she screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I hate her, I hate her."

"Grace," Sam said rushing to her side.

"Sam, go away, go away," she yelled turning away from him.

"Grace?"

"All you could ever do was blame David, everything was his fault. Never once did you allow anyone to think evil of Ivy. She destroyed us, she destroyed our family."

"Grace, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We were both deceived."

Grace calmed herself before speaking again. "I know, Sam, I'm sorry. What we need to do now is stick together so she can't come between us anymore."

Sam hugged Grace kissing her on the cheek.

"I told you," Kay chimed in from the corner. "I told all of you, and none of you believed me. How many times did I tell you the same thing David just told you and all of you hated me for even suggesting it."

"Kay, please," Jessica said with watery eyes, "shut up, just shut up. For once, don't make everything about you. Oh, God, Mom, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I said I hated you, and I don't, I don't."

"Jessica, it's alright, I understand," she paused staring off into space. "I'm sorry, everyone, but can you all just please leave," Grace pleaded, "I just want a little bit of time alone."

"Grace, you don't have to deal with this alone," Sam said. "I love you; I want to be here to go through this with you."

"Sam, if you want to help me, then please, please, go give Ivy hell for me."

Sam gave her a small smile and left in search of Ivy. Charity and Jessica also started towards the door, and were soon followed by Kay. Grace was left with David and John. John was standing by the window gazing out at the sky. His world had fallen apart in five seconds. He was afraid to turn around and see Grace and David there. Seeing them there might just make it all true and he was still convinced that it wasn't.

"John," David began, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to do this to you. But I had to do it for Grace's sake. And Grace, I'm so sorry. I've cost you so much time with Sam. I should never have let Ivy get the better of me."

"David," Grace said wiping away her tears, "don't beat yourself up over this. I've known Ivy for quite sometime now, and I understand what you went through. I don't hate you for this. I'm not saying that I admire you for telling the truth, you never should have started, but I am grateful that you realized it was the right thing to do."

"I'm so sorry again Grace."

"John, even though I'm not your mother, I still care about you. You are the innocent one in all of this. You don't deserve this, and I'm sorry that you have to go through it."

John turned away from the window and faced her. "I really believed you were my mom. Not just because I've wanted one for so long, but also because you are just everything I pictured my mom to be like. Even though you aren't my biological mom, I will still love you like one. You're the closest I've ever come to one."

"John, you saying that makes me so happy. I will still love you like a son."

John crossed over and hugged Grace, and then he and David left the room, leaving Grace to herself. Once they were in the hallway, John began to question his dad.

"So what does Ivy know, Dad? What is she holding over you that could destroy your life, as well as mine? If we're having a truth-telling night, then please, don't stop there. What other secrets do you have?"

"John, you've just had a bad shock. We don't need to do this now…"

"No, Dad, please, enlighten me. I need to know. If this could change my life in some way, I need to know."

"John, please sit down." John eyed his father suspiciously but did as David asked him to. "Now John, what I am about to tell you, I apologize in advance for it. It will be shocking but just hear everything before interrupting. When I was your age, I had a friend named Amy. She and I were very close. We were never romantically involved, but best friends. I also had a brother named Joe. Then, one day, Amy went missing. We were convinced that she had been kidnapped; there was no way that she would have run away, she was just a great person. So anyway, months passed, and I became very depressed over all of it. After a while my brother started acting weird. He would go off everyday with some excuse and this one time I went to the place he said he would be, and he wasn't there. So one day, I followed my brother when he went off, and this time he went into the woods. After a long walk we came to this shed in the middle of the woods, a place no one ever goes. He went inside and I just looked through the window. That's where I saw her: Amy. He had kidnapped her. She was lying down, tied to the bed, and there was a baby over in the corner. It couldn't have been more than a week old. What I didn't see while I was looking at the baby was Joe pulling a gun from his pocket and aiming it at Amy. When I finally saw what he was doing it was too late. He shot her, and killed her instantaneously. He dropped the gun, and I ran inside. I was just so caught up in the moment, I wasn't thinking. I grabbed the gun before Joe even realized who it was. I pointed it at him and starting asking him how he could do it, why he would do it. He broke down and told me the whole story. Months earlier, before her disappearance, he had raped her. She was scared to tell anyone, he threatened her not to. She ended up pregnant and told Joe before anyone else. Well, of course, he freaked out, and he kidnapped her. He kept her in that shed for nine months, and when the baby came, he actually delivered it. He had been studying giving birth for nine months. The baby came, and then so that Amy couldn't talk, he killed her. So when he was done, I, caught up in my anger, shot him. I killed him, my own brother. As soon as it happened, I realized what I had done. I decided to run away. I buried the two bodies, and I took the baby. It was how Amy could live on. I ran away, and I never looked back. I left the continent; Australia is where all of this happened. My dad was already dead, and when my mom found out that both of her sons had gone missing, she died soon as well. The bodies to this day have never been found. All three of us have been assumed dead. I've changed my name, my appearance, covered all of my tracks, and I still haven't been found. That is, until Ivy. I don't know how she found out any of this."

John looked at David in horror. "And that baby…that baby is…me?"

"Yes, John, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"So you're not even my real dad?"

"No, I'm really you're uncle."

"I'm sorry; I just need to let this all sink in. I need to be alone."

John walked off. David decided it was best to let him go, and stayed where he was. It killed him to tell John the truth when it was so horrible. How had Ivy found out? How could she have known? It didn't matter now; all that mattered now was that she did know. Now, when his life could be ruined, was a time he could use all the friends he had. But now he was alone. He was losing Grace. John and his relationship would never be the same. He had no one. He didn't follow through with his end of the bargain and now Ivy was in a position to destroy him. All he could do was wait for her to do it.


End file.
